Deaf Community - Rochester, NY

Where is the best place in the United States for a deaf person to live? Many say that Rochester, New York is the most deaf-friendly city in the U.S., and for good reason.

Rochester has one of the largest deaf populations per capita, meaning that out of the total population of Rochester, a substantial percentage are deaf.

The deaf community is so sizable there that the local Democrat and Chronicle newspaper has a reporter, Greg Livadas, who frequently writes deaf-related articles.

Rochester is the birthplace of key or historic elements of the deaf community.

Just about every aspect of life in Rochester is deaf-accessible.

COMMUNITY NEWS and CALENDARS

Rochester has its own community websites for the deaf, including:

DeafRochester.com

DEAF CULTURE

Rochester has been the birthplace of organizations such as the Deaf Artists of America (now defunct), the theater group Lights On, and Deaf Life magazine (now apparently defunct). NTID hosts the The Joseph F. and Helen C. Dyer Arts Center, a showcase for deaf artists.

EDUCATION

Rochester is home since 1968 to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a technical college on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology. Younger deaf students have the choice of the Rochester School for the Deaf (Before RSD in the early 1820s, there was a short-lived small school for the deaf; RSD started in 1876 as the Western New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes, and became RSD in 1919) or mainstreaming with support services provided by the Monroe County Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

HEALTH

At the Marion B. Folsom Medical Center, there are professionals skilled in sign language. The University of Rochester hosts PAH MD, Promoting Awareness in Healthcare, Medical and Deaf , a discussion list.

SIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES

In a place with such a large deaf population it is to be expected that sign language classes would be in high demand and easy to find. A few resources for sign language classes in Rochester:

ASL at the University of Rochester

Rochester School for the Deaf

MCAHI

Monroe County Adult Education

Sign language students in Rochester can interact through a local chapter of ASL Meetup.

INTERPRETERS

Rochester is home to several interpreting services, and also has training and organizations for interpreters:

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf has an interpreting program.

The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has a local chapter, the Genessee Valley Region Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

Interpreting agencies include:

FMI Interpreting Services Inc

Interpretek

M.E. Services

Sign Language Connection

Strong Connections (Medical interpreting provided by the University of Rochester Medical Center)

MOVIES

The Regal Henrietta Cinema Stadium cinema shows open captioned movies; at the time this article was written, no theaters in Rochester had the rear window captioning display system. The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film also sometimes shows subtitled films.

ORGANIZATIONS

Rochester is in Monroe County, which has the Monroe County Association for Hearing Impaired People. For women, there is the Deaf Women of Rochester. Hearing Loss Association of America has a Rochester chapter.